Deceased in the Making
by Trintoo
Summary: Natsu was only on the trail for his father until an apocalyptic outbreak starts. Meeting Lucy Heartfilia on that day was the start of one goal: to survive and bring down whoever started this shitty apocalypse! Zombie AU. NaLu
1. Chapter 1

Deceased in the Making

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor do I own its characters. They are, by right, Hiro Mashima's.**

 **I don't have much experience with writing stories, so I would appreciate it if anyone could give me some feedback and criticism on my writing. Of course I will be disappointed in myself, but it's all for the better of the story and how it will play out. Please stick with me until the end and help me gain a better skill in writing and increase my love for Fairy Tail and NaLu :)**

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POV: Natsu Dragneel; 12:05 PM; Hargeon

Today I will finally find Igneel! I've caught a rumor that the "Salamander" is in Hargeon, and no one else except Igneel and I could be the "Salamander" of course! Besides, we're both the only real Dragneels in this town as far as I can tell. Us Dragneels are known for our obsession with fire and our family are called "Salamanders" for that reason.

People like that bastard Gray also refer to us as _pyromaniacs_. Ugh, I hate his guts so much. I'd wanna see how he would feel if he suffered from something like pyromania. But that's impossible, because he hates fire and loves to chew ice cubes, which is freaking weird in my book.

The subway train halted to a complete stop, and the few passengers that had boarded with me quickly left to their own business. I didn't follow for a moment as I pet my fellow cat companion, Happy.

"W-We'll definitely find Igneel here, I just know it!" I spoke to him, still feeling my motion sickness in action, then felt the sickening feeling subside now that the train stopped moving. More people who began to board for the next stop looked at me like I was crazy for talking to a cat who couldn't talk back, but that didn't matter. I was already considered a pyromaniac anyways.

"We are now departing for Crocus. Anyone who has to leave for Hargeon please walk out the exit doors," the female's voice came from the speaker. "I repeat, we are now departing for Crocus. Anyone who must leave for Hargeon, walk out the exit doors."

I didn't want to be left on the train again like the last time I wasn't able to get off due to my motion sickness, so I hastily made way for the exit doors while stuffing Happy back into my backpack.

After entering Hargeon, there was already a commotion without me being the cause (not that I would admit that I _was_ the cause of most disasters...mainly setting classrooms on fire. It's pyromania, okay?).

I could see a crowd of girls around someone near the town square, but I couldn't see who, so I decided to bust through them to see for myself if this was Igneel or not 'cause they were fangirling around the supposed "Salamander of Magnolia."

"Igneel!?" I looked at the person in the middle of the ruckus, but my hopes were crushed. "WAIT...you're not Igneel!" He's only a womanizer!

I sighed and pulled Happy out of my backpack. "Guess we gotta look for my dad somewhere else, Happy…" Happy seemed to whine at this.

"Salamander" looked somewhat pissed off and flipped his purple styled hair, "Of course I'm not this... _Igneel_ you speak of. I-hey, look at me when I'm talking to you!"

In the middle of his little speech, I had already walked off, dejected, but his fangirls ran after me and several of them jumped and threw a punch at me. Damn women are terrifying! Soon after, all began to beat me on the ground. I may have been a _tiny_ bit rude but the guy started off that conversation boring as hell! You can't blame me for that, can you?

"Don't you dare walk off from the Salamander like that!" one girl said while glaring at me after the fangirls were done with the deed.

They all walked off back to the "Salamander" but one blonde girl (looked about sixteen or seventeen) had stayed behind to walk over to me. I noticed, she was one of the girls who didn't participate in beating me up nor fangirled over the "Salamander" jerk.

She had big chocolate brown eyes that stared at me with a glint of worry, "Hey, sorry you had to get beaten up...um, I could treat you to-"

Before she could finish what she was about to say, we both heard screaming coming from back where the girls that beat me up were.

I raised my eyebrows, "What's going on? Sounds like they're in pain." I winced as I could hear the moans. They sounded like dying mice, to be honest. Very loud. Very annoying. What the hell was going on?

"Beats me," the blonde girl replied and turned her head back to me, "but anyway, I was about to ask if-" She was interrupted with an echo of moans and screaming yet again.

Blondie huffed with a frustrated look on her face, "Seriously, what is up with those people!?"

I snorted, "They're crazy, of course." Happy nestled back into my backpack.

Strange, the moans and screams are getting higher and higher. Or more like closer and closer. They all sounded high pitched like a girl's voice, but a voice of a _dying_ girl. It's hard to explain. You'd know if you're here, but you're not here, are you?

One of the fangirls suddenly ran up to the blondie and I. There were evident gash marks on her neck which seemed to be made from something...biting her.

I cringed, and the familiar nauseating feeling came running back to my stomach.

Blondie gasped with a hand covering her mouth in horror, "W-What happened!? H-How did you get this-?"

"They're coming," the fangirl reached out to me and clung to my black vest. "Please! You've *wheeze* got to help us! They've got Salamander! *cough*"

 _Who's "they"?_

More fangirls were heading in our direction, but they seemed…different. Lifeless, in fact. Just like those zombies in The Walking Dead. Reminds me of them anyway.

"Oi, Blondie…!?" I hissed and grabbed her wrist. "I know what these are!" Happy peered over my shoulder and mewled in fear.

 _How is this even possible!?_

"W-Wha?" she was compliant and let me slowly guide her away from the fangirls. I couldn't tell if she was surprised by the undead fangirls or my blue cat.

The fangirl that was holding my vest instantly lunged for the blonde. Seeing this, I delivered a roundhouse kick to said fangirl's head in haste. Good thing I'm a black belt in karate. I'm also good at sports. Better than the Ice Brain, too.

Blondie shrieked, "Why would you do that!? She's probably really injured now!" The fangirls that we've _finally_ gotten away from turned their heads toward her voice.

"Blondie, look around you," I gestured to the fangirls near the square. "This place...I think we'd better go now. And that girl was trying to _eat_ you. Look."

She nervously glanced at the fangirl I kicked and started to tear up, "I...I can't believe it. There's no way that these people are cannibals or whatever you call it! There's no such thing!" The undead fangirl was reaching for Blondie's leg, but I kicked her away.

"There is now," I pulled Blondie away from the fangirls while trying to ignore their moans of death. "If you don't believe, then you don't survive. I know that they were only real girls just a moment ago, but a lot of things can change in just one moment." Even I found how weird it was that I could adapt to this situation so easily. Maybe those video games stuck with me.

As we were running away, Blondie spoke up, "Um, it would be nice if you stopped calling me Blondie."

I raised my eyebrow, "What's your name then, Blondie?" We slowed to a complete stop near the docks.

She loosened her collar a bit and looked at me, "Lucy. Lucy...Heartfilia."

I couldn't really hear that, "Luigi?"

Luigi glared at me, "It's Lucy! Now that you know my name, er, what's yours…?"

"Natsu Dragneel," I grinned.

I could see more of the supposed zombies everywhere we'd went around town.

 _We'd probably have to get a boat or something to get away from them. Or…bingo!_

Spotting a sewage entrance, I tugged the lid off and turned to Lucy, "Well, from here on out you can decide. Apparently those humans-turned-cannibals are obviously out for us. Exactly like an apocalypse from a video game… Do you want to go down the sewer with me or look for help somewhere else?"

She smoothed her short blue skirt down before looking disgusted by my suggestion, "I wouldn't go down there if these were normal circumstances, but I guess it's...necessary. I wouldn't find another person out there that's _not_ those things so I'll go with you."

"Alright! Let's go, Lucy! We'll definitely get through this if we have each other's backs," I gestured to the sewage entrance. "You can go first. Watch out for zombies, just in case."

She nodded, then started to climb down the ladder.

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POV: Lucy Heartfilia; 12:58 PM; Hargeon Sewers

When I first laid eyes on Natsu, my first impression was that he was pitiful. Having a bunch of random girls beat you up isn't such a great way to spend the day. That's why I even bothered to offer lunch to the guy. He wasn't that bad looking either, not that I would admit it to anyone (he can probably pull off pink hair better than anyone...and the muscles are a plus). Besides, his whole being tells you that he's the ultimate form of weird. Pink hair and blue cat (does he like to dye everything he owns that has hair?); I wonder what else he has in store. Although he _is_ weird, he's got a nice smile… Nice personality, too. I wouldn't mind being with him, to be honest. In fact, I kinda enjoy it.

 _But why am I thinking this when I just met him like thirty minutes ago and while I'm climbing down the ladder to the sewers!?_

"I shouldn't have worn this today…" my sleeveless, collared jacket with a big blue cross as the design and my short blue skirt were not meant for sewers. "But thank God I'm wearing my knee-high boots."

I then yelped as I abruptly lost my footing, "Kyaa!" I was close to the ground, so luckily only my butt was hurt.

I could see Natsu's pink hair through the hole on the surface, "Oi, is there an undead down there!?" He quickly climbed down the ladder to make sure I wasn't getting eaten.

He grabbed my shoulders and looked me up and down, "No bite marks there, no bite mark here… Wait, if there's no bite mark, why did you scream?"

He was still gripping my shoulders as I answered, "I-I just fell of the ladder from the last step…" Ouch, my butt is still sore.

His grip loosened and his eyes softened, but he still held on, "Are you sure you're okay? I don't want to lose the only company I have besides Happy." Happy? Ooh, his blue haired cat.

Those words for some reason made me blush, "I'm fine, so let's get going." Luckily, it was dark in the sewers so he probably couldn't see the red color forming on my cheeks. There's no way that I would be the only one that would go red from having someone like Natsu worry about me! He's a good-looking guy; all the girls would flock to him. But wait, maybe he already has a girlfriend he's worrying about…

As we were walking through the sewers I slapped my cheeks, _Lucy, Lucy, Lucy, stop thinking about a possible love interest and focus on the life or death situation at hand! I really am crazy…_

Natsu really did stare at me like I was crazy, "You're really not okay, are you."

"What do you mean by that, Sir Crazy?" I muttered. "Anyway, there probably aren't any zombies down here, right?"

"Yeah, the outbreak started just now so they wouldn't get into the sewers so fast," he pulled his backpack off of his shoulders and rifled through it. "Can you hold Happy? I'ma look for my flashlight." He gently carried Happy out and placed him in my arms.

Natsu continued to search the knapsack while I absently scratched behind the ears of a purring Happy.

Curious about Natsu's personal life, I questioned, "So...can I ask why you dyed your hair pink?"

He looked offended as he paused searching for a moment, "My hair has always been this color, and it's _salmon_ , not pink."

"Then how about Happy? Why did you dye his fur blue? There's no way that's his natural color…"

"I wasn't the one that dyed it. I don't know who did it, but he was already blue after I found him as a stray," he revealed a black flashlight and murmured to himself, "Oh, that's where I put it…" Zipping the backpack back up, he put the straps over his shoulders and turned the flashlight on. "If you want, you could carry him while we walk to who knows where."

"Sure," I said as we continued.

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POV: Natsu Dragneel; 4:27 PM; Magnolia

"Oi, Lucy, I finally found another hole to the surface!" it's already been three hours of walking for us and I felt elated that we could finally see the light of day. "Quick, here, hold the flashlight." I handed the flashlight to her and began to ascend the ladder. The lid was loose, so I cautiously opened it in hopes that there wasn't a zombie directly above my head.

Poking my head out, I noticed that we weren't in Hargeon anymore, "I know this place. This is Magnolia..."

"Magnolia?" Lucy recalled. "I was going to head there today to enroll in Fairy Tail High School."

"Really?" I pulled myself out of the hole and urged her to climb up as well. "Oh, and make sure not to drop Happy."

She scoffed, "Like I would be willing to drop something as cute as this!" She cuddled him before ascending the ladder steps.

After the both of us were out of the damp and dirty atmosphere, I took a deep breath of fresh air, "It's nice to be home..."

Lucy unzipped my backpack while it was still on me and put Happy inside, "You live here?"

"Yeah, and I also go to the Fairy Tail High School you speak of. I wonder where my friends are right now..." I sighed and stretched for a bit. "I wonder if the undead are the same as the ones in the video games I've played."

"It's possible, but if this apocalypse was just an accident, then it's highly unlikely," her eyes roamed the town for a bit, digesting the image. "Humans were the ones that made up zombies, so what kind of science experiment could just make them out of the blue?"

I shrugged, "Not sure. Maybe it was intentional. But whoever did it, I _will_ find them."

Lucy had a look of determination in her eyes, "Both of us. I want to bring the guy who did this to justice... Did you see that girl's wound back there? It was...horrible..." A realization crossed her mind, "W-What if my family... Dad... Everyone..."

I attempted to comfort her by resting a hand on her shoulder, "Lucy, they'll be fine, I'm sure. If you really think that something happened to them, you might jinx it."

 _Not that I think any differently._

That little joke seemed to cheer her up a little, "R-Right. Thanks, Natsu." She smiled, "You're a really nice guy, you know that?"

I rubbed the back of my head, "I try."

My eyes widened when my ears caught a strange noise, "Lucy...do you hear that?"

She whimpered and nodded in response.

I slowly made my way towards the sound of the tearing of flesh (as I imagined it to be), setting my backpack down and grabbing my flamethrower out from it (yes, I own a flamethrower for...defensive purposes). I ignored Lucy's shocked gasps from the sight of the flamethrower as I made my way through an alleyway.

What I saw was completely unimaginable.

It was a zombie, eating the life out of one of the teachers from Fairy Tail High.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor its characters. By right, they are Hiro Mashima's.**

 **I have no excuse for not writing besides school which was like almost a month ago and laziness... Please forgive me!**

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POV: Lucy Heartfilia; 4:35 PM; Magnolia

I trembled as Natsu stared at the undead with unmasked hatred. I was afraid of what he'd do. I didn't really know the guy for that long, so I didn't know what to expect.

Who is that man? How did he end up like this? These were some of the questions that popped up into my head.

"N-Natsu…" I whispered. I could tell that he knew him.

Happy came bounding down the sidewalk to my feet. I quickly picked him up and hid behind a dumpster so as to not be seen by the zombie.

"You…" Natsu growled menacingly. He placed his finger on the trigger as the atmosphere turned cold.

The zombie stopped eating for a moment and let out an "Uhhh" before turning to Natsu.

"You, how could you!?" Natsu fired an endless flame from the flamethrower at the zombie. "He had a son! What'll happen to him now that he's on his own without a father in this world!" The zombie attempted to go after him while it was still getting burnt, but to no avail. It fell down to the ground, burnt to a crisp corpse.

I revealed myself and Happy from the shadows and Natsu knelt down in front of the man who was now void of personhood.

"Natsu...who is that?" I looked at the poor man's brutal ending. The urge to throw up suddenly clung to my throat. The dead man had gashes on his neck and his side along with cuts all over his body. They were probably made by the zombie...

He glared angrily at the body, "One of my teachers and friend's dad. His name's Macao-sensei. He...was a great dad to his son. Romeo. But now he's gone. I wonder where he and Wakaba-sensei are..."

"...Whoever made the undead happen, they deserve to be one of them," I said bitterly.

"I-"

It seemed that his shouting and the flamethrower had attracted attention. A horde of zombies had heard him, and they were coming this way. There might be at least a dozen over there!

One stalked through the alleyway, ready to pounce on one of us.

"Lucy, we need to get out of here!" he frantically jumped and grabbed the edge of a nearby balcony, reaching his hand toward me after he threw the flamethrower onto it. "Grab my hand!"

I shook my head and gave Happy to him, "Take Happy first, we don't want him out here."

He hurriedly decided to grab both Happy and my free hand and pulled us into the apartment.

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POV: Natsu Dragneel; Magnolia

"Damn, I lost my watch so I don't know what the time is..." Lucy muttered, twisting her wrist around.

"That's alright, we can just look at the sky anyway," I sighed as I peeked out the window at the few zombies trying to claw their way into the apartment we were in. "Those things are never gonna quit, are they?" Happy whined, as if he understood what I was saying.

"Then how're we going to get out of here!? I'm starving, and it hasn't even been one day yet!" she pouted, crossing her arms. "I could go for some yogurt right now..."

"We're surrounded by a bunch of zombies, and you're thinking about _yogurt_?" I immediately reconsidered. "Actually, I could go for some meat..."

She let out a little laugh.

"...Oiii! Any survivors out there!? If you're a zombie I've got a pitchfork, so come and get it!" a guy outside called.

I groaned, "...This guy is stupid as hell."

Lucy pulled the curtains back and looked at the guy, "What is he _doing_!? He's going to get himself killed!"

"...Should we help him?"

"Well, you have a _freaking flamethrower_ , so what do you think?" she obviously wanted me to help the poor dude who literally asked for the undead to jump into his arms.

Grabbing my flamethrower, I quickly reloaded it with some more fuel.

She gasped, "Hurry! They're closing in on him!" I looked outside to see five of the undead walking towards him. The dude's movement was a bit wobbly like he was drunk or something, so I was a little suspicious.

 _Shit, there's no way I'm gonna make it-!_

"Wait, there's someone else there too...!"

I glanced out the window and could make out a familiar figure, _Holy crap...it's Gray!_ He was unarmed and unsurprisingly half naked, but grabbed the other guy's pitchfork to fend for the both of them.

"Gray!" I threw the empty fuel tank that I'd used earlier for the flamethrower at the window, shattering it. "Oi, you Ice Bastard! Catch!" I tossed the flamethrower out the window, towards him. I usually wouldn't trust anyone with my flamethrower, but Gray was gonna need it or he'd turn into one of them.

"Natsu!?" he caught the flamethrower with one hand. "Goddammit, why does it have to be fire..."

"Just be glad I even offered you the damn thing!" I could feel a vein surface on my forehead.

"Well, thank you, pretty lady!" Gray gestured to Lucy before firing.

She reddened, "Pretty lady...?"

"Oi, _I_ was the one that threw it to you!" I growled, pissed off. "And, by the way, it's _my_ flamethrower!"

"Am I being protected by a god...?" the guy Gray was protecting gawked in awe at the magnificent flames shooting out from the weapon.

"Nah, I'm just a badass," Gray replied after the zombies were all dealt with.

By that time, Lucy and I had already made it up to the dude and Gray since the undead that were trying to get into the apartment building went after them.

Gray stormed up to me, "Oi! You could've gave me something _besides_ your stupid flamethrower!"

"Do you think I would've thrown my precious flamethrower to you if I had anything else!?" I snarled.

We immediately took part in a mini brawl.

"N-Natsu! Stop, please!" Lucy looked at me with eyes of what looked like a mixture of fear, worry, and anger.

Gray stopped his punch midway, "Fine, I'll stop for the lady right here, but we're not finished yet, Flame Freak."

I also restrained myself from beating the crap out of him, "You bet we aren't! Anyway, let's go back inside. More of those things could be close by." Gray, Lucy, and I hurried into the apartment with the other drunk dude in tow. With its stairs broken down, we used the balcony that I first used when Lucy and I were being cornered by zombies in the alleyway.

"Um, so you guys know each other?" Lucy asked after the three of us heaved the unconscious guy into the apartment and sat on the old couches with Happy.

"Yeah, since we were kids," Gray answered for us.

"Oh, I guess that would mean you're childhood friends then," she forced a little smile. At least, that's what it looked like to me.

"Hell no! I could never be friends with the flame brain!" Gray scrutinized me with disgust.

I retorted, almost pushing Happy off of my lap in the process, "Well, who would wanna be friends with you, you stripper!?"

"Guys! Could you be a little more quiet? You might irritate the monsters out there," Lucy butted in while angrily whispering. "This is a life or death situation, you know!?"

"S-Sorry, miss...um...what was your name?"

Lucy gave him an amused look, "Lucy...and, uh, Gray? W-Where are your pants!?"

He looked down, "Shit, where did they go!?" He went off to scavenge the apartment.

"...Care to explain?" Lucy gestured to Gray, who was clad in only his boxers.

I laughed, "That always happened during school. He has a habit of stripping himself. That's why I call him a stripper..."

"...That explains why he was shirtless..." she shielded her eyes from the sight.

I heard something fall in the kitchen.

I glanced in the kitchen to see Gray already dressed in his pants, but he was attempting to find the switch to turn the stove on.

"Gray, what the hell are you doing!?" I judo chopped him onto the floor.

"Natsu! You almost made me drop the freaking pot onto my head!"

"Trying to boil water?" Lucy walked over to the stove and examined it. "Do you guys know how to cook?" My stomach growled at the thought of food.

"...Nope." we both said simultaneously.

"We always went to our friend, Mira's, bed and breakfast place," I explained.

"...I'm gonna have to do all the work, aren't I?" she sighed and pointed at Gray and I. "You two! Gather your weapons."

"Why?" I tilted my head cluelessly.

Gray punched the back of my head, "We're goin' out to get food, obviously!"

I lit up at the word, "Alright, let's go!" I took my backpack and slung it over my shoulders.

Lucy picked up Happy and put him inside of my backpack, "Do you know any lakes around here? With fish."

"There's the sea in Hargeon?" I suggested.

She shook her head, "Too far."

Now Gray was confused, "What do you need a lake with fish for...?"

"To go fishing," Lucy grinned. "We're having fish tonight."

Gray and I praised Lucy with her great idea as we strode out to the balcony, discussing a place where we could find fish.

Only thing was that we forgot the drunk dude on the couch.


	3. Chapter 3

**To KorraTheFox (guest): Yeah, you could say it was a bit rushed around there. You see, I was at a loss of how I could proceed with and to Macao being dead and all, but that was all I could think of at the time. I have an idea of how I** ** _couldve_** **done it right now, but I'm not keen on editting something that I've already uploaded. It's regretful, but I'm making sure to look at all the possibilities and not taking the easy way out when dealing with something like writer's block. Anyways, I'm glad that you're enjoying the story! Your reviews as well as others have gotten me hyped up to finish this chapter :) Sorry for the long reply, but this is the only way I can communicate with you right now since you're a guest XD**

 **Disclaimer: I'm not Hiro Mashima, which is wishful thinking, so I obviously don't own Fairy Tail or its characters.**

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Lucy's POV

I squealed as I almost lost my balance off of the dumpster and clung to Natsu for support.

"Jeez, you're such a clutz," Natsu slid down onto the sidewalk and offered to help me down. "Need me to carry you off?" He held his arms out.

"No thank you, I'm fine!" I managed while copying his sliding movement down the dumpster lid. _Man, this guy is so nonchalant when dealing with a cute girl like me!_ I inwardly sighed in disappointment and secretly wanted him to have _some_ sort of reaction.

"Guys, I've got an idea!" Gray suddenly burst out after we all stood around each other in a moment's silence.

"Of why you're still not wearing a shirt right now, Droopy Eyes?" Natsu chortled.

"Shut up, Flame Brain! I'm talking about a lake we can fish at with no problems!" he snapped back with a nasty glower.

I echoed with a hint of confusion, "No problems?"

"Yeah, it's called Lake Sciliora and it's on the outskirts of town. So that we don't have to go through the trouble of making a few fishing rods and searching for bait, a few parts of it are shallow enough for us to just stab it with something to catch it," Gray smirked proudly at his useful knowledge.

Natsu asked, "How do you even know about it!? I didn't even know Magnolia had a lake around here!"

"It's where the market gets their fish, Squinty Eyes!" Gray groaned and muttered something about Natsu lacking intelligence.

"Wait, wait, you're forgetting something!" I looked pointedly at Gray before Natsu could make up a comeback and another insulting nickname. "Do we even have the necessary equipment to-"

Gray interrupted me, "The pitchfork."

"Oh...um, then let's go. I'm guessing you're the only one who knows the way there, so Natsu and I will follow you," I said, then instructed. "Single file: Gray in the front, Natsu in the back, and I will be in the middle. Gray will lead us while Natsu can look out for the undead."

"What about you!?" Natsu and Gray chorused.

"You guys will just have to protect me," I shrugged. "Got another weapon I could use?"

"I found this in the Fairy High gym before I got to this part of town," Gray handed me the golf club he'd been holding. "It was used for the golf club, but I don't think they'll be needing it for that now..."

It was a wedge type. Not a driver, which could've been more effective, but it was better than nothing.

"There wasn't a driver type golf club in there?" I traced the head of the club.

"I don't even know what the type of club you're holding right now is," Gray said. "I just grabbed a random one out of the bag to fend for myself."

"It wouldn't have hurt to examine which ones looked like they were more effective against a zombie," I pointed out.

"Do you think I had time to do that?" he pushed a hanging branch out of the way and let it rebound to hit Natsu square in the face.

"Oi! Watch where you're letting that thing go, you Ice Princess!" Natsu initially broke the branch off and began to swat violently at Gray. Gray countered with the handle end of his pitchfork.

I punched the two on their heads, "We have to hurry to Lake Sciliora before it gets dark! Don't get distracted while we're out here! You can't forget that those monsters could ambush us at any moment!"

"Don't say that, please," Gray shuddered and rubbed the newly formed bump on his head.

"Yeah, yeah, Lucy! Instead of thinking about zombies, let's decide what we're gonna do with these car keys," Natsu shoved a key ring into my face.

"Car keys!?" I shrieked then covered my mouth.

"Now you've gone and done it!" Natsu roughly shook my shoulders back and forth in panic. "Tons of the undead could've heard you right now!"

"Instead of panicking, let's find which car the keys react to and see if it still has some fuel left!" Gray snatched the keys from Natsu and pressed the unlock button on the remote towards each car in the vicinity. Eventually, one of the cars, a white Mitsubishi SUV, reacts and Natsu gives a high shout.

"Yes!" while he was celebrating the fact that we've just earned a car, he didn't notice the lone zombie crawling towards him from the shadows.

"Natsu!" I swung the golf club as hard as I could onto the zombie's head. I could hear a cracking sound as I continued to bash its skull open.

 _I can't let it get to Natsu!_ Dark blood spattered everywhere and I could feel tears threatening to pour over my eyes. _This zombie isn't human. He's just a monster now. He's not human. He's a monster._ I constantly tried to tell this to myself, but I still couldn't get the thought that I just _murdered_ someone out of my mind. After all, he could've been human only hours ago.

By that time, I could see all of the insides of the zombie's head, but I didn't stop. There's no way I would let one of my companions get bitten.

"Lucy, you can stop!" Natsu firmly held my wrist as I stared at the zombie, teary eyed. "It's dead now. It's okay, and...thanks."

I trembled all over and dropped the club, "H-He was only human before... I can't believe I did that..." My knees buckled, but I was caught by Natsu. I tried so desperately to hold back my tears.

Seeing this, Natsu lightly brushed my cheek with his hand and embraced me, "Lucy, you know it's okay to cry in a situation like this."

"B-But I did something so terrible..."

"Terrible? Nah, it wasn't. Without you there, I don't think I'd be human right now," he murmured into my ear and rubbed my back, comforting me. "Now, let's get in that car!" He cheerfully pulled me towards the SUV. I nodded and wiped my wet eyes.

Gray was already situated in the driver's seat and started the car.

"You can just sit tight in the back and take a nap, Lucy," Gray said and locked all of the doors. "Man, I haven't driven a car in a while..."

 _Yeah, like I can take a nap after what just happened._

"No, I can just do something else useful," I searched the seats for my club, but it was no where to be found. "Hey, where's my golf club...?" I looked out the window. "Ah, it's outside! I'll go get it." I unlocked the car door and walked up to the golf club. I picked it up and hesitantly cleaned it with the dead zombie's sleeve.

"Lucy! Lucy! Get out of there! Get back in the car!" Natsu suddenly shouted. "Get back here!" He barged the car door open and ran to me as fast as he could and picked me up while I was still holding my golf club.

As this occurred, I was about to whack him with the club until I witnessed a horrifying sight.

There was a horde of zombies _running_ towards us as if their life depended on it.

Natsu dumped me into the back seat and Gray stepped on the gas pedal.

"Those things can _run_!?" Gray swerved past Caldia Cathedral. "Damn, if we're gonna take 'em down we're gonna need freakin' guns!"

"Are they goin' on a marathon or somethin'!?" Natsu threw his backpack over to me and covered his mouth. "Hey, take care of Happy for me."

Somewhat annoyed, I unzipped the backpack and stroked a whimpering Happy, "You could at least gently give the bag to me..."

"Whoops, sorry," he hastily apologized as he was distracted by the horde. He suddenly rolled the windows down and leaned out.

"What're you doing?" I questioned.

"The idiot has motion sickness," Gray explained.

"...Ugh...blergh!" he nearly vomited.

"..." I was shocked.

 _I never thought that the guy I was interested in would have motion sickness as a weakness of all things._

* * *

Gray abruptly slammed the brakes, "We're here. The undead might still be possibly chasing after us, but it'll take a while for them to get here. Let's hurry up and catch the fish." I could see the sunset, and worried that we might be staying out too long.

Natsu opened the car door and kissed the ground while muttering, "I'll never ride a vehicle ever again..."

The lake was calm and I could clearly see the weirdly colored fish swimming about.

 _It's a good thing zombies don't eat other animals. Otherwise, we'd be in a bad situation..._

"We could just grab 'em with our hands!" Natsu stated gleefully after jumping into the lake and easily snatched a fish from the water. "See? Caught one!" It was as big as the both of his hands and looked like it could feed a family of four.

"If we catch a lot, we won't have to worry about food supplies for a while!" I excitedly attempted to catch one as well, but I only ended up landing in the water on my butt. "Ouch...! Natsu, how did you catch it?"

"Ya gotta wait patiently and have good timing," he replied and revealed another smaller fish in his other hand.

"You could take on being a fisherman as your lifetime career," Gray snickered while stabbing at the water with his pitchfork. I could see a mist of blood flow through the waters.

Natsu wrinkled his nose, "What's wrong with being a fisherman?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to provoke you," Gray stated bluntly. "...Flame Breath."

A vein popped out of Natsu's forehead, "I oughta...!" He leaped after Gray and brought the both of them down into the water. There was a flurry of shouts and gurgles as they wrestled beneath the lake's surface.

I was about to yell at them about fighting again, but thought again about it and sighed. Rivals will be rivals.

* * *

After deciding that we had caught enough fish for the night, Gray drove us back to the apartment.

"Ooh, I can't wait for something to eat!" Natsu exclaimed as we climbed onto the dumpster. "I've been starving for this whole freaking day!" We managed to catch a decent amount of fish for the rest of the week. With Natsu's natural talent for catching the fish, we got enough in no time and decided to leave the lake and go back to the apartment before it got darker.

"You can say that again..." Gray covered his mouth as he let a yawn escape. "I'm beat."

As we strolled back into the apartment, I noticed something odd.

"Hey, where did the other guy go?"

* * *

 **From now on, so that everyone doesn't get confused, I will be changing from Natsu and Lucy's point of view for each chapter. When you see an itty bitty time skip, it'll still be the POV of the person that it started out with. Anyways, hope you liked this chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor its characters. Hiro Mashima is the rightful owner...**

 **HAPPY 4TH OF JULY GUYS!**

* * *

Natsu's POV

"Where the hell did he go!?" I cried out.

"He was here on the couch just when we left..." Lucy added. "Do you think he woke up and went somewhere?"

"Most likely," Gray sighed and ruffled his own hair.

I scratched my head and lit up, "Oh! He's probably sobered up and taking a shit right now or somethin'."

"Natsu!" Lucy yelled in disgust. "You don't need to say it out loud!"

"You were the one that asked where he went," I didn't understand what she was complaining about. "We were all thinking that the dude went to either take a piss or shit."

"Even so!" her face turned red in embarrassment. "You don't need to bring that image into our heads...!"

Gray nodded and shuddered, "I agree."

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Pervy Popsicle," I retorted.

"It's a free country, I can say whatever I want," he countered.

"It's not like anyone'll care about the opinion of a perverted, ice-chewing princess!" I taunted.

Something in him finally snapped, "It's on, you Tabasco Freak!"

As we were starting to take part in a physical fight, Lucy, yet again, had to break us apart, "ARE YOU GUYS GOING TO FIGHT DURING EVERY SINGLE DAMN CONVERSATION WE HAVE!?"

Her rage reminded us of a certain someone as we hugged each other in terror, "No, ma'am!"

"W-We're best friends, right Natsu ol' buddy?" Gray strained an unnatural grin.

"Y-Yeah, so please don't hurt us, Lucy~!" I let go of him and begged.

Her once scary face had already disappeared and was replaced with confusion, "Why are you guys being so obedient?"

Gray shifted uncomfortably, "You remind us of...someone..." _Oh God, I hope Erza didn't hear what he just said._ Of course, Erza couldn't hear him, but you never know.

"Someone? If you two are scared, that person must be terrifying..." she tried to imagine what Erza looked like.

"You're damn right she's terrifying!" he brushed the side of his face as if to soothe an old injury. "I can still remember the day I first met her... I think all of my bones could've been broken."

"You're...you're overexaggerating," Lucy accused with a tinge of doubt.

"No, no, you're underestimating her strength," he said, "and once...if you meet her, you'll know."

"I bet she could survive this apocalypse no sweat," I sighed.

Lucy inquired and set Happy down on the floor, "Um, who is she anyway?" He pounced onto the sofa and curled up into a little ball.

"Her name's Erza," I answered.

She gasped, "You mean _the_ Erza!? As in, Titania!? The one known for her amazing sword dances!?"

"Is that what people call her?" I questioned the Ice Block and wrinkled my nose.

"Yeah, it means 'Queen of Fairies.' I think her fans got it from Shakespeare or something, I wouldn't know."

"No way, I can't believe people like you two know her!" Lucy exclaimed.

"What's that supposed to mean...?" Gray raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing..." she responded vaguely and switched topics. "Anyway, I have to make that fish. You two just do your own thing while I get it ready." She took my backpack and retreated to the counter, rifling through the backpack for anything that would be useful for cooking the fish.

Gray commented, "Y'know, this situation seems a bit too convenient..."

"I don't really care, I just want my fish," my mouth watered at the sight of the raw fish Lucy held.

He scoffed, "You're way too carefree for your own good." He started to walk towards the bathroom.

"Oi, you know the other guy could be in there?" I reminded him.

"I know that, dumbass, I just wanted to check how he's doing. He's been taking forever! Other people gotta use the bathroom, too," he said matter of factly. He knocked on the door, "Hey, dude, are you okay?" No one answered.

A cold sweat ran down the side of his face, "Is he really not in the building?"

"No way! If he wasn't, he'd be out there having fun with the zombies," I said sarcastically, and immediately reject the possibility. "Why the hell would-?"

"U-Ughh! Agghh!"

The grunts were coming from the bathroom.

"Man, is he constipated or something?" I asked no one in particular.

Gray knocked on the door again, "Hey, are you alright!? Say something...! I don't think he's constipated...

"I'm gonna open the door if you don't say something!" he warned him.

The guy didn't say anything and just continued to moan in pain.

"I warned ya..." Gray murmured as he slammed the door open. He revealed the dude, who was sitting on the ground against the counter while holding his head tightly in agony.

"Ohhh..." he groaned and attempted to stagger towards Gray after he stood up.

Gray took a step back away, "O-Oi, what's wrong with you!?" The guy's eyes were bloodshot and his teeth looked rotten as his mouth hung open with drool rolling down his chin. He bumped into the doorframe, but continued to stumble closer. I'm not sure if he looked like that when we saved him, but I just noticed it for no reason.

"Now he's just being weird..." I remarked and followed Gray back, "like Lucy."

"No, this is a different weird from Lucy," Gray's back hit the wall. "...I think he was bit."

The guy lunged for Gray's neck, only slowly realizing that he was biting thin air.

Gray had rolled over towards me and hurried me, "Quick, grab the pitchfork!" The pitchfork was lying against the wall beside the sofa and I grabbed the handle and pointed it at the guy who'd supposedly turned into one of the undead. He ran right into the spikes and was momentarily stuck in them.

"What's going on!?" Lucy ran over to us. "How did it get in here!?" She suddenly recognized the zombie's face, "I-Is that the guy we saved earlier...!?"

"He was probably infected before we saved him," Gray took the pitchfork from me and hesitated to stab the guy-now-turned-zombie.

"W-What're you waiting for?" Lucy gripped my shoulders in slight fear as she hid behind my back. The zombie was inching closer and closer to Lucy and I.

"Gray, hurry up and kill him!" I grabbed the closest object I could find that would be useful for fending the zombie off, which happened to be a five-pound dumbbell. I threw it as hard as I could at it, leaving the zombie's head looking a little bent backwards.

Gray finally came in for the final blow and full on threw the pitchfork at the zombie as if it were a spear with accurate precision, "Take this...!" The zombie was sent flying to the other side of the room and lay still, unmoving.

"...He's dead," Gray said.

"Are you sure...?" Lucy peered over my shoulder.

"He _did_ just throw that pitchfork at that zombie's head," I pointed out.

" _I see that_ , but it could still be alive..." she was getting skeptical. "Just stab it one more time in the head to make sure, please!"

"Okay, okay, I'll do it," Gray steadily traipsed towards the corpse. The pitchfork was stuck in the zombie's head, so he swiftly took it out then stuck it back in without looking at it.

I wondered, _Why does_ _he look so unsure...?_

Lucy sighed in relief, "Thank you..."

"Just hurry up and cook the fish," he snapped and stormed into the bedroom, slamming the door.

"D-Did I say something...?" she looked at me.

"No," I replied. "He's just hiding from reality."

"...I...I'm gonna finish the fish," Lucy pulled away from me and went into the kitchen.

"Lucy..." I mumbled. _Lucy understands how he feels..._


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or its characters. Hiro Mashima is so lucky to own this work of ART.**

* * *

Lucy's POV

"Dinner is served!" I wobbled the plastic plates that I had found in the cupboard on each of my hands as if I were a waitress struggling to serve her customers. Sauntering into the living room, I noticed that it was already pitch black outside from the window view. The night was cool with a light breeze drifting in, fluttering the curtains. Curled up on the couch was Natsu and Happy, who was lying on top of him, deep in slumber. _Aww~_ Natsu's sleeping face is pretty cute. Minus all the drool, snot, and loud snoring noises. _Scratch that, there's no way I can like a guy who sleeps looking like this!_ I reached my hand out to shake him awake, but something in the back of my mind told me not to disturb him.

I set two plates down in front of the couch. They'll eventually see it and eat it.

 _Maybe I should go see if Gray is awake._

I instantly remember what had happened earlier. _But is he okay?_ I know what he's going through, and I want to help him. _The experience could've triggered a memory._ All of us had something that happened to us in the past. Sometimes we just have to...let it go. _Alright, I've made up my mind!_

I slowly tiptoed to the bedroom door so as to not wake Natsu and Happy. When I arrived at the door, I lightly knocked a few times, "Gray...? Are you awake?"

I could hear muffled movement coming from inside, getting closer until Gray appeared, looking a little more than ravenous, "The fish's done?" He took one of the plates from me and proceeded to the close the door until I held it open.

"Gray...um, can I speak with you?" I could feel the sweat roll down the side of my face.

He looked at me, surprised, "Uh...sure." He left the door open a little wider and walked over to sit on the bed.

I closed the door behind me and began to eat my own fish while sitting next to him.

"So...what did you wanna talk about?" he breaks our silence.

I stop munching on the half eaten fish, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

He blinked, "What?"

"I'm more observant than you think."

He laughed, "Whatever you're thinking, it was just your imagination."

"Gray!" that got his attention.

Gray lowered his eyes and stared at his fish for a moment, "...I didn't want to kill him."

I shook my head, "...I don't think you killed him."

"Then what did I do...?" he stared at me intensely. "What else would you call murdering someone as!?"

I smiled sadly, ignoring his slight raise in volume, "I think that...you gave him peace. He doesn't have to be a zombie anymore. He can pass on without worrying anymore."

"But I _killed_ him," he bit off a chunk of fish in frustration. "He was human. I...I could see it in him. But when we saw him, he was already turning and-!"

"Gray," I cut him off. "This is what Natsu told me. If I hadn't killed that zombie that went after him before we found the car, he could as well be a zombie as much as the guy that you helped was. He told me...he probably wouldn't be alive right now if I hadn't done that. W-What I'm trying to say is that you saved us, Gray."

"I...saved you...?"

"Yes. And I'm very grateful for that," I continued. "I understand how you feel. I once thought I was killing a human...but I realized that it was no longer human. The zombie who had once been a person was long gone. Their life had already been taken away."

"...I..." Gray buried his face in his hands. "I just wanted to believe there'd be a way to save him other than killing him. I...lost my parents because of an attack from an unknown monster in our village. I didn't want to believe it. But it happened. I just...I just don't want anyone to die. Not my parents, him, you, or Natsu... Wait, I wasn't supposed to admit that, damn!"

I was amused, "Well, it's not like Natsu and I are gonna die on you yet. I'm confident that we can get through this... We'll find whoever started this and bring them down. Then, we'll find a cure to help everyone go back to normal!"

"Haha...you're amazing, Lucy. Fine then. I'm convinced. I'll help you and the flame brain find the dude who started this shitty apocalypse."

* * *

"Mmh...?" I groaned and could feel something hard against my head. I didn't bother to open my eyes, and felt the pillow that I was sleeping on. _Why the heck is it so hard?_ I finally noticed something after cracking my eyes open to the sunlight that glared brightly out the window. I was staring at the ceiling of the living room, and the couch was right next to me. _Oh, there's Happy on the couch._ But where is Natsu? And if I'm sleeping on the floor right now, doesn't that mean that it should feel...well, harder?

My memory of the previous night consisted of talking to Gray about the zombie he'd killed and going outside to sleep on the couch opposite of Natsu and Happy. I thought I passed out on the couch, not the floor!

"Ugh, Lucy, get off of me. You're heavy!" I knew that voice anywhere. I rolled onto my stomach and fell off of Natsu.

"Why the hell was I sleeping on top of you!?" I screeched.

"Whoa, keep it down, Lucy, the undead down there could hear you!"

"Just answer the question!"

"You were the one saying you wanted to sleep on me!" he held his hands up in a defense position, afraid that I might skewer his ass to the moon.

"I don't remember a thing about wanting to sleep on you!"

"But you did!" he insisted. "You pulled me off of the couch and fell on top of me, saying that you wanted to try sleeping with me."

My face turned red with embarrassment, _No way, no way, don't tell me I was sleepwalking and acting out my dream...!_ I could never remember what my dreams were about, so I wasn't sure.

"Were...were my eyes closed...?" I asked, afraid to hear the answer.

Natsu sat up, "Dunno, I couldn't see anything because of how dark it was." He twisted his torso, "Damn, my back hurts...!"

"S-Sorry..." I glanced toward Happy. "Did Happy eat his fish?"

"Oh, yeah. Happy loves fish. He would never leave it sitting out. He even almost ate my own fish!"

I chuckled, "Do you want another one?"

"What?"

"Fish," I clarified. "Cuz I'm hungry!"

* * *

"How the hell do you even cook the fish...?" Gray squinted while watching me throw pieces of fried fish onto a plastic plate.

"Simple. Just pour some oil into the pan and put the fish in. As long as you cook it for the right amount of time, it should be good. Gotta make sure not to drop the flamethrower. Um, but without seasoning it doesn't taste as good as I would like it to..." I sampled a piece of fish and offered one to Gray.

He gladly took a few and popped them into his mouth, "Thanks."

"Hey, lemme have some, too!" Natsu grabbed a handful and began to stuff his mouth full.

"N-Natsu! The rest of us need to eat too, you know! I want to save some so that we'll have enough for a few days," I scolded him. I turned away so that the plate was out of his reach. "Anyway, I need to discuss with you two about what we're gonna do from now on. We need a plan. If we're gonna look for the guy who started this apocalypse...well, I don't know where to start."

"We gotta live too, Lucy," Gray said. "We can't just go off searching for some guy that could be anywhere out there without surviving against the zombies. Not to mention that we only got lucky to have Lake Sciliora nearby and somewhere to take shelter."

"We have a car!" I argued. "We could travel with that, as long as we find a gas station somewhere..."

"And what do you suppose we do if we don't?"

"We will find one! We can also find more people that'll help us-!"

"We're in a zombie apocalypse! Not everything is just rainbows and sunshine!"

I glared at him, "We can't just stay here. Gray, this might sound harsh, but everyone dies one day or another. We might as well risk our lives out there to survive. It's not like our supplies will last forever here!"

Natsu sighed, "Gray, just listen to her and let's-"

There was a crash. My face turned pale, "How...!" A bunch of zombies were trying to climb onto the balcony and had managed to break a flower pot in the process. The scary part was that they actually _did_ get to the top.

"It got up by climbing onto the other zombie...!" I realized.

"We gotta get out of here," Gray quickly gathered our stuff, handed the backpack to Natsu, and pointed at the window. "We're jumping. No zombies on that side."

"Jumping!?" I looked out the window. We were only two stories high, but it looked much higher from up here. "No way, there's no way I can jump from all the way up here!"

"I'll carry you," Natsu suddenly pulled me towards him and lifted me up, sliding his arms under my legs and my back. "Don't worry, I won't let you get hurt! Hehe."

 _This is literally the second time he's offered to carry me!_ My face turned crimson red and I pushed on his chest, "W-What do you think you're doing!?"

"Getting us out of here," he approached the broken window and placed one foot on the ledge. "Get ready, Lucy!" He jumped.

I held onto his neck for dear life, "Ahhhhhh!" Natsu aimed for a cluster of shrubs and managed to land safely.

"Are you crazy!?" I was still holding onto his neck and didn't intend to let go until I was put down.

"Y-You're choking me...!" he wheezed and let me down.

I could still feel the adrenaline rushing through my body, "Now we just need to wait for Gray..."

As expected, Gray came rushing down with the pitchfork and golf club. He pressed the unlock button on the car remote and shoved us into the car, "Time to move!" As soon as we closed the doors, Gray stomped on the gas pedal. We zoomed past a large amount of zombies. It seemed as if the number of people who turned are getting bigger and bigger!

I tightened my fist, _We can_ _save them! We_ must _save them!_

* * *

Gray parked beside a gas vendor and let out a deep breath, "Do any of you guys have money?"

Natsu shook his head, "Nothing." To prove it, he checked his pockets and scarf.

Gray looked at me.

"No..." I lost my purse when I first met Natsu.

"Damn," Gray cursed. "We're gonna have to check the cash register in the gas station. Lucy, you watch over the car. Natsu and I are gonna break in."

Natsu smirked as he reloaded his flamethrower, "I've always wanted to try robbing a gas station!"

* * *

 **I tried getting another chapter out for you guys as fast as possible! Hope you enjoyed it :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail and its characters while I'm here with this fanfic plot.**

* * *

Natsu's POV

"Ya think there are any zombies in there?" I asked the ice princess. We were standing in front of the gas station and getting ready to steal the money in its cash register. _Hopefully, Lucy will be okay on her own._ I was slightly worried that a zombie might pop out of no where and attack her while we weren't with her.

"Dead zombies, yeah. Living zombies? We're just gonna have to find out," he replied and slowly opened the door. I cringed when the doorbell chimed in greeting.

"If there's a zombie in there, it already knows we're here because of that stupid bell," I grumbled.

"Stay on alert," he warned me and pinched his nose. "Ugh, it reeks in here!" There was blood all over the floors and a few corpses here and there lying around the aisles. Luckily, someone had already taken care of them. It also smelled like vomit, which was probably the rotting flesh.

As we went deeper into the store, I noticed a flash of red.

"Did you see that?" I pointed in the direction I saw it.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about," Gray was wiggling the cash register around and beating it with his pitchfork. The sound of coins dropping onto the floor could be heard all throughout the room.

Thinking it was nothing, I waited for him to finish gathering all of the money by looking for some food that I could bring back.

 _Ice cream? I don't know,_ _but_ _I don't like ice cream... Maybe Lucy'll want it,_ I thought as I passed by a fridge filled with a few buckets of ice cream. _The ice cone definitely loves ice cream, but who cares about him.._ _. I'll just get it for Lucy. Yeah, for Lucy._ I grabbed a bucket and continued browsing. _Does what I like or dislike even matter during an apocalypse?_

There wasn't much left on the shelves. People who were here when the outbreak started probably took as much as they could. Too bad some of them turned into zombies.

"Natsu? What are you doing with the ice cream?" Gray came walking up to me with a plastic bag filled with yen. He was staring intensely at the bucket I held. "Didn't you hate ice cream?"

"...For Lucy," I explained hesitantly. For some reason, it felt kind of embarrassing to say it. "...And put on some clothes."

"What the hell!?" he quickly put his pants back on and turned back to me, looking like he was having an internal battle with himself, "Uh..."

"What is it, ice brain? Spit it out!" I impatiently swung the bucket back and forth. _Damn, he really is a block of ice for brains._

He squinted, "...Ice...cream."

I smirked, "I knew you couldn't resist ice cream, but ya gotta ask Lucy about that. If she doesn't want it, then fine, take it."

"Fair enough," Gray snatched the bucket and proceeded to walk to the exit. "I'll go ask her, you just look for more food! When we're done filling the car with some gas I'll call you over."

After he went outside, I continued searching for more food, _Damn, there's barely anything left._

In a few minutes, I managed to find a bag of pop rocks, one Sunkist and one 7-UP, and a box of graham crackers. I surfed the aisles over again and couldn't locate anything more besides the other two buckets of ice cream that I didn't pick up in the fridge. _Might as well take them._

I left the store, remembering that Gray still didn't call me over, but went over anyway.

"Eh, Natsu!?" Lucy was sitting in the back seat with the car door open. She was attempting to use the knife from the apartment to scoop a bit of ice cream into her mouth. She looked surprised to see two more buckets of ice cream. _Looks like she does like ice cream._

"Oi, oi, Lucy, you're gonna cut your tongue off," I dumped the items from the store into the trunk.

"I know what I'm doing," she retorted, then whined when a slab of ice cream slipped off from the tip of the knife. "Besides, there's nothing else to use besides a knife..."

"Can't you just use your hands?" I set my flamethrower down on the passenger seat.

"There's a reason utensils exist."

I chuckled and countered, "There's also a reason why hands exist~"

"But I don't wanna get my hands dirty..." she sighed. "What I would do to get my old life back..."

"Then use my hands," I offered and immediately spooned out a handful of ice cream with my bare hand. "Hurry up and eat it, it's going to spill! Don't worry, I washed my hands."

"W-What!?" Lucy stared, wide-eyed, at my hand, which I'd shoved into her face. "W-Wait a moment, you're gonna spill it on my skirt...!"

"Then hurry up and eat it!" I said curtly.

"Uh, how 'bout you get Gray to eat that? Better not waste it, ahahahaha...!" she squirmed onto the other back seat and nervously laughed.

I followed her, "If ya don't wanna waste it, then why don't you eat it? I wouldn't let him eat off o' my hand anyway. That'd be disgusting." I licked the back of my hand since the ice cream was melting. _Hm...tastes like milk._

She blushed and hurriedly took the ice cream from my hands with her own hands and shoved it down her throat, "*cough* So cold..."

I stared at my hand, then stared at her hands and burst out laughing, "Bwahahahaha! Now we both have sticky hands, Lucy!"

She fumed, "Now, how are we going to wash it off!?"

I nonchalantly wiped my hands on my vest, "Clothes."

"I'm not a slob like you..." she shooed me out so that she could let the liquid drip onto the concrete floor.

I clicked my tongue, "Your clothes are already dirty anyway." There was dirt and blood on her skirt as well as her boots. Not to mention her torso, which was even worse than both her skirt and boots combined by now. Even her face was caked with dirt and her hair with a few leaves and branches stuck in it.

Lucy complained, but gave in anyway and proceeded to wipe the remaining ice cream onto the edge of her skirt.

"Oh, by the way, you got twigs in your hair," I mentioned.

"It's not like you don't either..." she let out a sigh, then smiled as she reached out to my hair.

"H-Huh...?" I felt her hands picking bits of debris out of my hair.

"Jeez," she said under her breath, "it's everywhere, but good thing we don't have much of a height difference!" She was so close that I could feel her breath on me. I couldn't help but stare into her eyes as she was focused solely on getting the leaves out of my hair.

 _Brown..._

We suddenly made eye contact.

Her face turned red, "A-Ah! Sorry, uh, um, I'm done..." She mumbled the last part.

I grinned, "Let me return the favor." But as I was about to reach out to Lucy's hair, someone abruptly punched me.

"Natsu! What the hell are you doing!?"

I landed on my back and groaned, "...This sounds like..." I looked up to see scarlet hair blowing in the breeze and my eyes widened. That person was one of the only things I feared in life, "E-Erza...!"

Lucy gasped, "Erza Scarlet-san!?"

 _She still has the Fairy Tail High uniform on. She must've been in school while the outbreak happened..._

Erza glared at me, "You were about to touch this poor young lady. Have you been influenced by Gray and Loke!?"

Gray popped out from the other side of the car, "O-Oi, is she implying that I'm a pervert...?"

"Gray! Did you know that Erza was here!?" I asked.

"Yeah, but you and Lucy were too busy flirting to notice."

"I-It's not like that!" Lucy denied. "And, who's Loke...?"

"A flirting machine," Gray answered.

"Really?"

"He tried going for Erza, but he got beat up."

I remarked, "He tried going for Mira, but he got beat up by Elfman, her younger brother."

"Don't forget Levy. Jet and Droy also claimed she was theirs, and so he got beat up."

"This guy is amazing in his own way..." Lucy sweatdropped.

"Anyway, Erza, how'd you get here?" Gray turned our attention to Erza.

"My blade," she immediately responded.

"Oh, right, Erza-san's a famous sword dancer, isn't she?" Lucy commented.

"Not just dancing, I know how to wield them as well," Erza said. "And where were _you two_ during school hours, Natsu, Gray?" Erza was a student council member at Fairy Tail, and she was extremely strict in the school rules.

"N-No where in particular..." Gray stuttered.

"Looking for Igneel," I said.

" _Natsu_ _, you dare to skip class?_ " Erza's gaze turned cold, but she soon let out a sigh right after as it disappeared. "Nevermind. I will let you off this time, since we are in the beginning of an era of monsters."

"Wait, so you were fighting since yesterday by yourself all this time!?" Lucy stared at Erza in awe.

"That's right. I've been separated from the rest of the students from Fairy Tail High," she explained.

"I told you not to underestimate Erza, didn't I?" Gray recalled. "She's one of the best when it comes to swords and martial arts."

"Wow, you must be really strong, Erza-san!" Lucy complimented.

Erza blushed, "Not necessarily. On another matter, please refrain from using honorifics with me. You can just call me 'Erza.' May I know your name?"

"I'm Lucy! You can also just call me 'Lucy.'"

Erza smiled and politely shook her hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lucy."

Gray jumped onto the driver's seat, "You guys ready to go now? Erza, you're coming with us, right?"

"Of course. I cannot simply ignore the fact that you only own a pitchfork, golf club, and flamethrower as weapons. I will come with you."

"What're you trying to say, Erza!? Our defenses are plenty good!" I argued.

"Natsu, but Erza-san, I mean, Erza is skilled with swords! Besides, would you be heartless enough to just leave her here alone?"

"...No..."

"Then, let's go together! Wait-" Lucy turned to Gray. "...Where are we even going...?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"You guys don't know, do you!?"

* * *

"Mm, Fairy Tail seems like a good start," Erza nodded. "We might find some survivors there."

"There could also be some leftover supplies in the nurse's office," Gray added.

"Yosh! Then it's decided, our next destination is Fairy Tail!" I turned slightly green. "B-But, can we just walk there instead...? I'm about to hurl...!"

"Oi, are you getting sick from just thinking about it!?" Lucy's eye twitched.

"You must endure it, Natsu. A working vehicle is crucial during this time, and you guys were extremely lucky to even find one that had the keys to it lying nearby," Erza said. "Sit in the back with Lucy and take a nap."

"You say that like it's easy, but...mmph!" I covered my mouth. "The fish from last night is coming back out..."

"Get it together, Natsu!" Lucy encouraged me.

"Just knock the bastard out, Erza."

Erza suddenly punched me in the stomach. I could feel the darkness closing in on me, as the faint fragrance of strawberries filled my nose.

The last thing I could see was blonde locks of hair.

Erza sighed, "This will do."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor do I own its characters. All of Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima...**

* * *

I caught Natsu after he got knocked out by Erza, "N-Natsu!" The green color was fading from his face, but it looked like his soul had just departed for the afterlife. "A-Are you sure this is okay...?"

"Don't worry about him. Erza does that all the time when Natsu gets annoying about transportation," Gray reassured me. "Now, let's head to Fairy Tail." He started the car with a twist of the key and the car began to slightly rumble. Erza silently hopped onto the passenger seat, meaning that I had to drag Natsu into the back with me.

"Hurry up, Lucy, the zombies aren't as slow as you," Gray teased. "They'll eat you before you'll have the chance to finish that ice cream."

"Then why don't _you_ try dragging him around!?" I retorted. I put Natsu's arm around my shoulder and attempted to carry him into the car.

" _Well_ , the flame brain _does_ need to go on a diet..."

 _God, are guys supposed to be this heavy!? How many muscles does this guy have!?_ Natsu felt like he weighed a million tons in one body! _But, of course, that's just exaggerating..._ I heaved him onto the back seat and tried to position him into a more comfortable sitting position while sitting beside him.

When the car started to move, I asked Gray and Erza, "How far is Fairy Tail from here?"

"Not that far, it takes approximately ten minutes to get there from here," Erza answered while watching the road. Her hand was resting on the hilt of her katana, which was probably the blade she used to survive since yesterday. It was hard trying to imagine how a beautiful person like her could wield a sword, but I guess it's a little similar to how she looks when she's sword dancing. I've seen many videos of her online, and I've been a fan ever since I saw one, which lead me to another and another. I was very surprised that someone my age could be that talented.

I tried engaging her in some small talk, "So, Erza, are you also childhood friends of Natsu and Gray?"

She turned her head towards me and nodded, "That's right. Natsu, Gray, and I all met in an orphanage along with many others that now...no...used to go to Fairy Tail High School with us."

I was trying not to show my surprise, "Oh...I'm sorry for mentioning it." _They're worse off than me. They don't have parents, while Father and the staff were there, although Mom..._

"It's alright," Gray jumped into the conversation. "Not all of us have a perfect past. That goes for you too, right?"

I frowned, "Yeah..." Our little chat came to a stop.

* * *

It likely took more than ten minutes to get to Fairy Tail considering the amount of zombies we encountered. There was a mass of them walking around on the streets, so it was hard to get through them and take down a few that wanted to run after us. Once, Erza was forced to climb onto the roof of the car while it was still running. A couple of zombies held onto it and didn't intend to let go. It was then that she unsheathed her sword and cut their fingers off so that they wouldn't be able to hold on. You could say she was a bit merciful since the zombies were still alive after that.

When we arrived near Fairy Tail, we were compelled to leave the car somewhere a lot farther from our actual destination, because a bunch of zombies were standing in the way of the road. I was reluctant to leave it behind, because we possibly might not even be able to come back to it due to the zombies that could surround it.

We were discussing this when we parked in a random house's garage.

"How about two of us stay behind and the other two go search the building?" I suggested.

"Good idea!" Natsu was awake and well after the vehicle came to a complete stop. "I volunteer Lucy and I."

"What!?" Gray and I yelled simultaneously. _Why me!?_

"I can understand the Tabasco freak, but _Lucy_!?"

Erza just crossed her arms and sighed, "Natsu, why Lucy? She isn't familiar with Fairy Tail and doesn't know her way around. She also doesn't know how to fight. How can the both of you make it through without getting hurt?"

"T-That makes me sound so useless..." I sweatdropped. _This_ is _what_ normal _people are like..._

"Exactly! She was gonna go to Fairy Tail anyway, so why not give her a tour? We have my flamethrower and she has her golf club, so what's the problem?"

"I never agreed to this!" I piped up.

Gray groaned while unlocking the car doors, "The problem is that if Lucy gets separated from you, she wouldn't be able to find the entrance, considering how big Fairy Tail High is. She also can't fend for herself too well because she doesn't know any hand to hand combat or how to use a weapon. No offense, Lucy."

"None taken. I think..."

Natsu pouted, "Tch, if Lucy isn't going, then I'm not going!"

"What are you, a child who can't bear to leave his mother!?"

"Say that again, you bastard!"

I squealed as I felt a menacing aura build up from Erza.

" _Natsu_... _Gray_... _are you fighting_...?"

They froze. "N-No, Erza, why would you think that?" Gray had beads of sweat racing down his face.

"We're best buds, aye!" Natsu's voice became high pitched.

Erza coldly glared at them, "I've decided that Gray and I will search Fairy Tail while Natsu and Lucy will stay behind to watch over the car. If Lucy can't go and Natsu won't go without her, this is the only solution."

Natsu was clearly shocked, "What!? But-!"

"Is my judgement not accurate...?" Erza silently dared him to defy her.

"N-No, ma'am!"

"Then, Gray, let us search Fairy Tail!" Erza opened the car door while Gray hurriedly obeyed her orders and grabbed his pitchfork.

I call out to them, "Good luck!"

"Don't die, Gray, Erza..." Natsu waved next to me.

"Save some ice cream for me, Lucy. Natsu! Don't go attracting any of the undead," Gray chuckled and followed Erza around the corner. "See you soon." Gray gave a wave and disappeared along with Erza.

"They'll be back before we know it..." I covered my mouth and giggled. "So, this is the effect Erza has on the both of you?"

"You'd be bawling your eyes out if _you_ were the one she was mad at!" Natsu countered.

"I can't deny that..."

Natsu sighed and clasped his hands on the back of his head, "...I'm bored."

"A-Already...?" _I guess he's the type who's always active._

That's when Natsu suddenly decided to poked my nose.

I blinked, "What are you doing?"

"Having fun," he spoke while lightly pinching my cheeks and pulling on them. "Your face is so squishy! It's like a piece of dough!"

"O-Ow, Natshu, dat hursh!" I retaliated by pulling on his ear. "And what do you mean, my face is a piece of dough!?"

"Aw, Lucy, we have nothing else to do!" he complained while rubbing his ear when I let him go.

"Oh really?" I grinned and took out the ice cream bucket I was using before. "This bucket is mine! Gray can have one of the other two."

"You wanna eat ice cream? What about me!?"

"I don't know, talk to yourself," I waved him off and grabbed the knife.

Natsu scowled, "You might actually cut your tongue of this time, you know."

"I-I won't!" I scooped a slab of ice cream with the knife and remembered when Natsu offered to use his hands to feed me. _He licked his hand! How was I supposed to eat from there? So embarrassing..._ I let the piece of ice cream on the knife slide off into my mouth. "Ahh, that feels so nice! Summer makes ice cream taste so much better!" It was July and this zombie apocalypse just _had_ to start smack dab in the middle of the hottest season.

"How do I make ice cream taste better?" Natsu raised an eyebrow.

My eyes widened, realizing what I just said, "Oh, no no no no no, I meant summer as in the season, not Natsu!"

"You're confusing me," he said. "You're weird, Lucy."

"I am not! You're the one with weird standards!"

"Admit it-" Natsu's eyes turned to slits and his eyebrows furrowed as he suddenly stared to his right.

"Natsu...?"

"Get down, Lucy," he pulled me down so that I was laying down flat on my back. He followed and got on top of me with our faces so close, our noses almost touched.

"N-Natsu, what are you do-!?"

He gently covered my mouth with his hand and put a finger to his lips, "Shhh..." I was confused, but I complied. The whole time, he was staring at me so intensely that I was beginning to sweat bullets. _W-What's with him?_ His dull, onyx eyes connected with my brown ones, and I could feel his nose getting closer and closer to mine. _A-Are we going to-!?_ Before I could finish my thoughts, he abruptly stood up. "There was one of the undead really close by. I made sure it didn't see us. I think it walked right pass the car without knowing we were here!"

My heart once again began beating normally, "Oh, thanks." _I-I almost thought we were going to..._ I shook my head, _What am I, a pervert? I don't wanna end up like Gray and that guy named Loke...! Besides, I've only known Natsu for like a day and a half!_ But still...in the back of my mind, it didn't matter whether I've known Natsu for only a day and a half.

* * *

I was worried. Worried that Gray and Erza had gotten eaten. Worried that Gray and Erza were being cornered. Worried that Natsu and I would be stuck in this car together alone overnight. I don't know how long it's been, but it seemed like hours had already passed after they'd left.

Natsu complained, "Ice bastard and Erza are taking so looooong!" It was getting darker every minute, and Gray and Erza still hadn't come back. If this keeps going on, when it becomes night, I don't know what we'll do.

"Is the school that big?" I asked him.

"Yeah, but they should know their way around! Shouldn't take them _this_ long to get some med kits or whatever."

"D-Do you think they're trapped...?" I hugged myself as the air got colder. "I'm worried..."

Natsu waited until I looked at him again, and smiled, "I have faith in them. They're definitely alive!"

My eyes widened, _Faith..._ "You're right! I won't think that they're dead until I see it with my own eyes!"

"That's the spirit, Lucy!" he grinned. "Now, let's play a game before the two of them get here!"

"A game? What do you have in mind?" _It better not be truth or dare._

He shrugged, "I don't know, I was thinking something along the lines of charades."

"Charades?" I echoed. "I don't know a game like that."

His eyes became as huge as saucers, " _Really_? Who doesn't know charades?"

"Um, well, apparently me."

Natsu laughed, "I know! I'll teach you. It's pretty fun."

I raised an eyebrow, "Is it?"

"If it wasn't, I wouldn't have suggested it," he responded. "Anyway, this is how you play it! Guess what I'm doing right now." He puffed his chest out, and pretended to roar while making some wave motions coming from his mouth with his hands.

As I was watching him, I tried desperately to keep a poker face on, but it was _impossible_. Natsu looked like a toddler trying to eat his own hands. I stifled my laughter and had tears on the verge of spilling, "W-What the hell are you doing, pfft!?"

He paused for a moment and replied, "You're supposed to guess what I'm doing! That's how the game works!"

"Y-You, you look ridiculous!"

He gasped in pure shock, "I do!?"

"I can't even guess what you were trying to do!" I finally let out a long line of laughter.

Natsu stared at me, before also laughing.

"W-Why are you laughing?" I wiped a tear of laughter away.

"Because you were," he chuckled.

For a moment, I was released from the worries of the zombie apocalypse, from the worries of Gray and Erza being gone for so long, and from the worries of how I would survive.

All I could think about was how fun it was to be laughing with Natsu.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or its characters. They are rightfully owned by Hiro Mashima.**

 **Oh lordy, we all must be wondering what happened with Gray and Erza aren't we, but do not fear, for this chapter will tell you what's going on!**

 **The intro has some NaLu added in, hehehe~ I apologize if it seems like his feelings are coming too fast, but it's true that people can feel attraction on the first day they meet someone. So much that they can't stop thinking about them.**

 **Anyway, you know what's hard? Thinking of who the heck I'm gonna introduce in the story and who the heck I'm gonna kill off! I literally am stuck on which character goes next.**

* * *

It was already night in the blink of an eye. Lucy and I stayed up, hoping for the moment when that bastard Gray and Erza would appear. We succeeded in distracting ourselves with many games of charades, quietly using my flashlight to look at the other's form, but even _that_ was starting to get tiring.

"Lucy, I don't think I want to wait anymore," I couldn't help but let my worry show as I snacked on a graham cracker.

She agreed, "I really want to go look for them, too. But..." She sighed and brought her knees to her chest. "It's night. Even if we did want to go look for them, we might get attacked by something in the dark. Could we risk that...?" I was sure I could risk it. But I wasn't sure if I wanted Lucy to risk it.

I didn't answer her. She motioned with her hand, "Hey, give me one of those." She pointed at the graham cracker sticking out of my mouth.

"Huh? Uh...sure," I took the half eaten graham cracker off of my lips and stuck it into hers.

She just sat there. Gawking at me. She didn't even chew on the food in her mouth. That's when her whole face turned tomato red in a split second and she took the graham cracker out of her mouth, "I was talking about one in the box, not the one in your mou-!"

I slapped my hand onto her mouth and hissed, "The zombies are gonna hear you!"

Her eyes widened in realization, and she mumbled a "Sorry" after I took it off. She gazed at the graham cracker in her hand, not knowing what to do with it.

"Are you gonna eat that or what?" I asked her.

"...I don't know..." she still looked like a living tomato.

I sighed and snatched it from her, popping it into my mouth. I could taste and feel the damp part from where I last bit it and where Lucy's saliva had seeped into the little holes. I tried to ignore it, attempting to make it look like I didn't care on the outside, and swallowed it whole. "Let's go look for Gray and Erza when it gets lighter in the morning if they don't get here by then." Even while saying this, I was extremely distracted by the fact that I just _ate_ Lucy's saliva.

Lucy cutely moaned in frustration, "Urrgh, we should've went to look for them before it became this dark...!"

 _Cute?_ Yeah, Lucy is cute. I kept that opinion in the back of my mind, but yeah. I think she's cute. Maybe something like pretty would be better to describe her. Or better yet, even beautiful. _Hmm, can't decide._ I leaned towards her and gazed intensely at her face, not bothering to hide the fact that I was checking her out. She might as well have been cute, pretty, _and_ beautiful.

I'm not the type of guy who would do the cliche thing where you say "You're not cute. You're beautiful" thing. Because I can't _not_ call Lucy cute. It doesn't mean that I can't call her beautiful either. Or pretty, for that matter.

"Natsu...?" she whispered. She was literally _breathing_ on my face. I could smell the scent of the graham cracker that had once been in her mouth and a faint trace of strawberries lingering all over her. Was that the smell of body wash that still clung to her skin after two days of no showers or baths?

"What?" I whispered back. I've only known Lucy for two days. Gray and Erza were still missing. The whole world is probably in the beginning of a zombie apocalypse. But there was something I secretly yearned for.

Her eyes came into contact with mine. I could feel myself slowly closing the distance between us.

I felt... _attraction_. An urge. To do something that you should probably only do after months of knowing someone.

"What are you doing?" she spoke softly.

I froze when my nose brushed against hers. _Shit! She's gonna slap me, then we're gonna be all awkward, and that's what I'll get for being a freaking hormonal moron!_ I backed away an inch and looked at her face to see how she reacted.

Her face was flushed and her eyes were half lidded. She didn't look angry. Neither did she back away when I came so close.

This sudden desire to kiss her _definitely_ seemed wrong. But at the same time, it didn't. Why didn't I feel like this earlier today? Or was it that I _did_ feel that way ever since I got to know her? Honestly, it felt like I've known her for years despite barely knowing anything about her. It was confusing.

Actually, I did try it earlier when the zombie came by. Our faces were almost touching each other's, but I backed away at the last moment. You could say that laying her down out of sight was to protect her, but it was _half_ an excuse.

I felt something soft land on my chest. It was Lucy.

I snorted, _Of course she fell asleep._ Happy came crawling out of my backpack and meowed at me. The look he was giving me said everything. _"Don't even deny it."_

I subconsciously patted Lucy's head, "You're right, Happy. Maybe love at first sight really does exist." Then I patted Happy's.

 _I'll keep it to myself. For now._

* * *

"Morning, Lucy," I yawned and twisted my torso as I heard a loud and satisfying crack. I stayed up all night to watch over her and didn't get even a wink of sleep.

She rubbed her eyes as she lifted herself up from my lap, "Eh...? Is it morning already?" She looked down. Her cheeks reddened. I'm starting to get used to this. "W-Why was I sleeping on your lap...!?" She tried to keep it quiet.

"You just did," I gave her a vague response.

She gave me a questioning look before shrugging to herself and glancing outside. "Should we go look for Gray and Erza now...?" We were sure now. Gray and Erza were in some deep trouble. Either that or they were... Well, I'm not even gonna think about it.

It looked like the sun had just risen and that the light was starting to creep its way onto the buildings.

I showed my irregular canines, "We got nothing better to do. Who cares what Erza said, if they need help, they need help." We grabbed everything in the car just in case we wouldn't come back (this meant stuffing everything we could fit into my backpack).

Lucy gently closed the car door so that any zombies wouldn't hear the sound. We made sure to also not forget the car keys.

"So, you're gonna give me a tour of Fairy Tail?" she cradled Happy into her arms.

I grinned and half whispered, "That's what I planned to do from the start, until Erza had to order the rest of us around."

"Let's hope that Erza can stay around to boss us around."

I nodded and beckoned her to come over to where I was, "Stay close to me. Keep a look out." There was a horde of zombies ahead of us, so we had to take a different route around the houses to the school building.

"That's the entrance to Fairy Tail," I say as we near a large gate guarded by dozens of the undead. I noticed that most of them had the green Fairy Tail High uniform on.

 _I am so glad I skipped class that day._

"How are we going to get through?" Lucy wondered.

"There's something I always did when I was late to class and didn't want to be caught by the security guard," I smirked. The gate, which was the entrance to the building, was beyond _huge_ , but I had a plan. This was something that I regularly did.

"What? Are you a delinquent or something!?"

"You could say that..." I lead her to a ladder leading to the roof of the building.

"Yearrgh, agghh!" a zombie saw us out in plain sight and was alerting the other ones with a series of moans and screams. "Uhhh..." Many of the nearby zombies turned their heads to see two non-zombie people, telling their minds that "Hey! There's someone who's not one of us, let's get them to join our ranks!"

"Oh, crap! Lucy, hurry up and climb!" I instantly sprayed fire at them. When there was enough room for me to go, too, I went after her and kicked a zombie's face out of the way as it tried to reach out to me.

As we got closer to the top, I could see one lone zombie standing on the roof, _What the hell is it doing there!?_

Lucy noticed too and gasped in surprise when it starts running towards her once it saw the top of her blonde head as she got to the top step, "Kyaaa...ah...?"

It ran right past her, missed her, and tipped over the railing, landing facedown on the ground three stories below.

"D...Damn..." I gaped at its more-than-broken body on the grass. "We're lucky they're brain dead."

"Y-Yeah..." Lucy nodded with the same expression as me.

"Anyway, move your ass aside, it's in my face."

A tick mark appeared on her forehead and she muttered angrily with a red face while climbing onto the rooftop, "Don't talk about my ass being in your stupid face! If it weren't for this zombie apocalypse, I would send you straight down to the ground..."

"Fine, fine, jeez, no need to get your panties into a twist," I chuckled and followed her.

"So, through that door, right?" she pointed at the only door that was on the rooftop that lead into the hallways of the school.

"Yep...let's hope there isn't a zombie hiding behind there..." I grabbed the door knob and attempted to twist it, but it was locked. "Y'know what, I'm just gonna kick it down." Without an ounce of hesitation, I used all of my strength to kick the door down in one move. The hinges tore and the lock broke off, but the door was opened!

The loud cries of the monsters roaming around in the school could be heard stumbling up the staircases.

"...Natsu...?"

"...What?"

"I think you screwed up."

"Yeah, I probably did."

* * *

I panted as Lucy and I were being chased by the horde of zombies residing in the school, "Do they never get tired!?"

"What do you expect, they're zombies for Christ's sake! Is this the 'tour' you said you were gone a give me!?" Lucy was running alongside me while carrying Happy through the lit hallway. The shrill moans and shrieks coming from the horde told me that they certainly weren't that far behind. We turned left to another staircase and jumped down to the second floor. "Where's the infirmary, anyway!?"

"First floor at the entrance. I always went there after getting into fights!" I replied and pulled her into a classroom, shutting the door and locking it behind me. "Wait, let's hide in here for a while! They might go away if they think we jumped out the window or something. Also, there's none of those things in here (probably)."

"Natsu, this is the second floor."

"Yeah, so?"

"Who the hell jumps out the second floor?"

"Me? But who cares, they're zombies, they don't think."

"Neither do you!"

"Just be quiet and let's wait it out," I sat down on one of the desks, taking Happy from Lucy's arms and stroked his fur.

"Happy's being awfully quiet for a cat, isn't he?" she says. "Not that it's a bad thing."

I wrinkled my nose, "Happy's always quiet, and aren't all cats usually quiet?"

She scoffed, "You wouldn't know. I used to live near an animal shelter, and they _always_ kept me awake at night. That includes the cats."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really."

"...Let's just stop talking. I can still hear them banging on the door."

"Agreed."

* * *

I whispered, "Okay, I think thirty minutes is enough. We can't waste any more time right now."

"Are you sure there aren't any...?" Lucy glanced hesitantly at the door.

"They might just be walking around outside, waiting for us to run into their arms and-"

"I'm not going out yet, I'm gonna die!" she hissed.

"I was just kidding, Lucy. Even if there are zombies walking around, I'll make sure to protect you," I sent her an assuring grin as she slightly blushed yet again.

"W-What's with you...?"

I internally smirked, secretly glad that I was able to make her go red again, "Let's go rescue the ice queen and Erza." I tug the door open as silently as possible and quickly took a look outside. All of the zombies that went after us were scattered all over the hallway, some feeding on corpses and dismembered arms and legs. _Gross..._ "They're still out there..."

"What about Gray and Erza!?"

I laughed, "Who said we weren't going out there?" I reloaded my flamethrower.

She gaped at me, "...You're kidding, right?"

I open the door wider and shout, "Oi, get a load of this, guys!" I put my finger on the trigger of my flamethrower and laughed maniacally as I burned the whole hallway, including the zombies. "Ooh, burning things is so fun~! Especially _living_ things!" I cackled.

Lucy stood there, as frozen as ice as my personality somewhat changed, "...Happy...what in the actual fuck is going on?" Happy meowed in a _this-happens-all-the-time_ tone as his head poked out from my backpack due to hearing his name.

The zombies seemed to be vulnerable to fire, and so they unsurprisingly collapsed one by one into the blazing heat.

I turned to Lucy as the fire crackled from the walls of the building, " _Lucy_...time to bring all these bitches back down to hell!" I swiftly scooped her up and headed for the stairs.

She gasped and beat my chest as we got closer to the fire, "YOU'RE GONNA KILL THE BOTH OF US, YOU IDIOT!" The fire was spreading fast, and to her, it looked like I was going to jump right into the flames.

I chuckled, "Don't worry, sweetie, I'll make sure the both of us save the pervert and Erza _alive_."

Her mouth hung open as she tried to hold her blush, " _S-Sweetie_? I think you play too much with fire."

"You got that right," I sit at the top of the railing next to the stairs and slide down to the first floor with a screaming Lucy in my arms. When we landed onto the floor, I remark, "By the way, you're heavy."

"Then why the hell are you carrying me!?" she snapped back.

"Gotta be the prince in shining armor, y'know," I let her down and point my flamethrower at the particular horde of zombies trying to breach the medic room. _That ice chewing stripper and Erza better thank me for this._ Their attention turned towards me after I shot, but it was too late for them as they ended up burnt to a crisp. The door to the infirmary slammed open, and I could see Gray and Erza glaring at me.

Gray had many random cuts on his chest and arms from who knows _where_ and Erza looked just fine with no hints of blood or anything. They had no major injuries whatsoever and looked completely fine.

"God, it's his other personality," Gray curses. "Don't tell me you wanted to burn us with them!?"

"Maybe I should just burn you alone... And aren't you gonna thank me? I just saved your sorry ass!"

"We need to get out of here first, the fire is going to consume the whole building!" Erza said while holding a bunch of med kits and bags filled with medical supplies.

"B-But there's so many zombies at the entrance!" Lucy says.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, I'll make sure to take care of them," I began to strode out to the front of the school without any second thoughts.

"...Sweetheart?" Gray looks at Lucy for an explanation. "Don't tell me you guys were sucking face while Erza and I were risking our lives out here?"

Lucy frantically waved her hands back and forth while shaking her head, "N-No, you've got it all wrong! I-It's just his, um, other personality? He started calling me 'sweetie' when

Erza looks around as if she is searching for something, "Gray, where's the little girl?"

"Oh, she was right-" he looks behind him, only to see nothing but the burnt corpses. "Wait a, WHERE THE FUCK DID SHE GO!?"

A timid voice could be heard amidst the chaos, "I-I'm sorry, Gray-san, I'm right here..." A tiny blue-haired girl poked her head out of the medic room. She had a white furred cat with her that seemed to be about the same age as Happy.

Erza angrily grabs Gray by the collar, "Gray! No swearing in front of children!"

"E-Erza, this is no time for-"

"I _said_ no swearing."

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

Lucy gazes at the little girl, "Where'd she come fro-?"

"Oi," I call out and interrupt her. "Before you introduce the girl to Lucy and I, let's get out of here, yeah?"

Erza nods and beckons to the little girl, "Let's go, Wendy."

The girl named Wendy squeaks and scurries to her, "Yes, Erza-san!"

"I'll protect you," Erza says while gripping her katana.

We face the entrance to Fairy Tail, our heads held high. It was time to kick some undead zombie ass.

I grinned, holding my flamethrower up and yelled, "Yosh! Let's do this!"

* * *

 **It's my birthday today! Sometimes they can be a real pain, but all the food I get to eat is worth it :D**

 **There was a little more swearing in this chapter than usual? It just felt right.**

 **Wendy finally joins the gang and all of Team Natsu is here!**

 **About Natsu's second personality, that will be explained in the next chapter as well as where Wendy came from ouo**

 **Is this chapter rushed? Because I'm not sure. I need some opinions for a future rewrite _**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey! It's been a while, hasn't it guys? I was planning on doing a rewrite, but I changed my mind. Not doing a rewrite will allow me to watch how I progressed throughout this story! I also decided to come back after like a year and a half. Well, now you'll (hopefully) get some updates from me on this story :P**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor do I own its characters. They are rightfully owned by Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

"If you shoot the parking lot, I think something will explode..." I remarked from behind Natsu.

"Sure, I'll listen to you, sweetie," Natsu gave me an uncharacteristic wink and blasted large fumes of fire that filled the parking lot with a number of undead ashes and flesh. The fire ended up affecting the surrounding cars, leading to the explosion that I had predicted. "Gasoline is my best friend, ain't it!" Natsu and the rest of us watched as the whole school was beginning to light up in flames. The many zombies in the surrounding area were either blown to pieces or blown away from the pressure of the explosion. I felt pity that most of the cars in the parking lot could've been used to travel around during this kind of doomsday. Hopefully our own car wasn't being hijacked or stolen by a random survivor.

"We have to go. _Now_!" Erza urged the rest of us to hurry out of the gates so as to not be burned alive. Gray pulled Wendy with the pretty white cat into a piggyback ride and Erza slaughtered any zombies ahead of us so that we wouldn't slow down.

"I didn't mean for you to actually shoot the parking lot!" I rebuked him with an exasperated look as he pulled me along with him. Happy yowled in agreement from the knapsack.

"You know you wanted me to. Besides, it was fun," Natsu laughed it off and stuck his tongue out at me. "We're not dead yet. Not before I'm done with some business I have with you." It was so refreshing to see this new side of him. In fact, I kind of...like it.

 _But what sort of business could you possibly have with me?_ I couldn't help but think it was about our relationship, even though it probably wasn't. After all, we hadn't even known each other long enough. But how could you blame me? He was like my perfect dream guy.

As we were sprinting as fast as we could out of the school, I could hear the building explode from behind me from a distance. The fire crackled and smoke began to rise from it. It was a shame that I wouldn't be able to go to this school in the future. It was weird to see my former future school being burnt to ashes.

Our group eventually made it out of the lethal site and traced our steps back to the car we had left back in the garage. Luckily, nothing was messed with and it didn't seem like any zombies nor survivors had gotten to the supplies inside.

"Home sweet home," Gray cracked a smile at our temporary living space and started to relax his once tense body. "Time to hit the road then?"

We all answered him with a nod of our heads. The danger was finally out of our way, for now. Natsu swung his arm around my shoulders and grinned at me, "Glad we're out of that mess, huh? Wasn't I cool?"

I rolled my eyes and lightly pushed his muscular arms off of me, "Right, right, you were the coolest out there. Who could _possibly_ outrank you?"

"No one, of course," he didn't take note of my sarcastic tone.

"I beg to differ," Erza narrowed her eyes at the both of us and obviously demanded that we all see her as the number one coolest here.

Natsu looked her up and down as if she was joking, "You're kidding, right?"

" _What are you implying_?" I could feel the evil aura radiating off of Erza.

"Lucy loves me and not you," Natsu laughed as if he was never terrified of her in his life and proceeded to hug me from behind.

"W-What is wrong with you!?" I jumped from the sudden intimacy of contact and attempted to struggle out of his grasp. It turns out that he was too strong, and I was too weak to wriggle my way out of his arms. _Is this the effect of his other personality!?_

Erza gaped at us in shock and surprisingly didn't pay attention to Natsu's rebuttal, "I see... All along, you guys were in that sort of relationship..."

"No! Erza, don't believe him," I cried helplessly, but to no avail, as Erza was already getting into the driver's seat.

Gray eyed us and noticed Natsu sniffing my neck, "You lovebirds just can't keep your hands off of each other, can you?" Wendy squealed, thinking we were probably performing a lewd act, and covered her innocent eyes.

"No!" I denied and tried to shake him off of me. " _Natsu_! What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"You smell really good, babe," he ignored my complaints and tightened his grip on me as he buried his face in my skin. "You make me wanna do things..." I was astonished that Natsu could be so bold. _But do what things...?_ This Natsu was kind of scary...but hot all the same. I could feel his breath spreading and condensing onto my skin. My neck tingled from this new sensation.

" _God_ , I never knew this Natsu was such a horny bastard," Gray sighed and looked at me with sympathy. "I've never seen him act that way to _anyone_ at school while he was in his different personality. I really don't know what's going on with him right now. Maybe he just likes you that much."

I cocked my head, "Really?" That was a surprise, considering Gray knew him as a child. They've most likely seen Natsu's other personality a ton of times. _Meaning that...maybe I'm special?_ I dared to think that I could perhaps be in a special place of Natsu's heart. _Psshh, not like I wanna be... Or do I?_ I couldn't help but think about my budding feelings for him.

Gray had already left so that he wouldn't have to cringe at Natsu's constant one-sided flirting(?).

I smirked to myself and turned around to ask Natsu an unusual question, "Natsu..." I sensually traced my fingers up and down his toned chest. "You know...you've been giving me these weird _signs_ and...well..."

He growled into my ear, "What?" His onyx colored eyes bore into mine like he was expecting something.

I had to go on my tiptoes to reach his ear and whispered, "...Are you secretly a dragon in disguise?" I wanted to catch him off guard with such an irrelevant question.

I could visibly see his pupils momentarily shrink in a bit of surprise. He took a step back and scratched the back of his head in confusion, "...What...? Never mind, I just won't think about it. Your jokes are strange. Let's just go." He hesitantly took my wrist and lead me into the backseat. I giggled and thought, _Why is he suddenly so shy?_

"So, where we headed now?" Natsu abruptly broke the silence of the car.

"To be honest, I have no idea where we should go," Gray was at a loss. There were too many things we needed right now. Too many things we needed to do. Life could never be perfect in a zombie apocalypse. "So you're back to normal?"

"Yeah..." Natsu replied with an indifferent tone. He seemed a bit distant and a little troubled.

I looked at him with evident concern, "Natsu...are you okay?"

He looked back at me, and smiled, "Yeah. Thanks for being able to deal with me, Lucy. I'm kinda just freaking over the way I acted around you and how I kept on taking over your space."

I snorted and waved my hand, "It's okay, it was actually pretty funny and cool to see that other side of you." _Not to mention that I kind of thought you were hot._ I could see Natsu sigh in relief.

"Also, sorry for calling you those weird pet names," he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "That really wasn't like me, even if it was my other personality."

I shook my head and beamed, "No problem, no problem... I don't mind." I involuntarily slapped my mouth. _Why did I say that!?_ "I-I mean, it's not your fault since it's your other personality and not this one who was controlling you during that time..." The car went dead silent. You might even have been able to hear crickets chirping to fill in the tension.

"...Now, I think we should talk about how Wendy came here," Erza suddenly suggested to break the ice. "After all, she's going to be with us for the rest of our time in this apocalypse." All eyes focused on Wendy.

"O-Okay... Well, I was with my friend, Sherria..." Wendy began to tell her story with a hint of terror left in her eyes. She could never forget the moment which had brought her to where she was now.

* * *

Wendy could hear the monsters banging on the classroom door, and turned to Sherria in fear, "W-What do we do...? They're going to break through!"

Sherria was cowering in the corner of the room with her hands covering her violently shivering head, "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know... Everyone's dead, everyone's dying, everyone's gone! They're all gonna eat us and then we'll turn into one of them! Everything's over." She was going crazy.

"You made it until now! We can still do it," Wendy desperately tried to get Sherria to stand up and fight for her life. "We can still make it!"

"No, no... I'm done," Sherria shook her head. "I can't do it anymore. We should never have tried to hide in this school." She began to stand up and walk towards the loud pounding. Her eyes were void of emotion and seemed lifeless.

"Sherria...what are you doing...? Sherria? Sherria!? No, Sherria-!"

Sherria had unlocked the door and let the hungry undead into the classroom. One after another, a zombie clambered into the small space and latched onto a body part of Sherria, biting flesh and tearing her apart. Sherria let out an uncontrollable scream and Wendy stood on the other side of the room, horrified. A finger torn, gashes and cuts everywhere, an eyeball hanging out of her socket... The torture was endless, yet Sherria was still screeching in pain, letting Wendy and all of the undead around know that she was very much alive. Wendy was only at the age of twelve, yet she had to witness this extremely gory scene. It was something that would definitely leave a deep and impressionable scar on her for the rest of her life.

Wendy didn't realize that she herself was screaming at the top of her lungs until the undead were done dealing with Sherria and turned their heads to her. "No...no...don't come near me!" Wendy shouted in despair. "C-Carla...help me..." She knew that her cat wouldn't be able to help her in this situation, but she still called out to her anyway. Her legs eventually carried her to the edge of a windowsill. "Ah-" She could feel gravity pulling her below as she noticed the zombies reaching out to her from the open window. She was falling, with Carla in her arms.

Wendy gasped. This was the end of her life. But she at least had to save Carla. Wendy tightened her arms and protected Carla as best as she could from the ground below. Shutting her eyes, she accepted her fate.

She didn't notice the rapid footsteps coming her way until she felt a pair of strong arms catch her.

"Huh?" she looked up to the face of the man who had just saved her.

"Hey, you okay? I just saw you fall from that window over there!" the man panted in slight exhaustion. He had bluish black hair that fell over his forehead in a seemingly leisurely way. He looked especially young and happened to not have a shirt on at that moment.

"I...um..." Wasn't she about to die? Wendy couldn't register what had just occurred. At the right moment, a random stranger had happened to appear and rescue her from her near death experience.

"Gray, what happened!? Who is this girl?" Wendy saw an elegant, red-haired woman running towards them with a sword in her hand. She eyed Wendy and looked slightly perturbed at the appearance of a girl alone in this zombie apocalypse with only a cat to accompany her.

"I don't know, this girl just fell from that window up there and I happened to be near and caught her," the man named Gray explained while pointing at the window Wendy had descended from. "Anyway, no time for chatting, I can see a bunch of them coming from behind you!" Gray awkwardly gaped at the horde that was making their way towards the trio.

"Oh, I know, I was just about to notify you two of their existence," the red-haired woman smiled as if their was nothing wrong and grabbed Gray's collar. "Time to run!"

"Erzaaaa!"

Wendy stared blankly as they all dashed away from the group of zombies into the school. Today was certainly a day to remember.

* * *

"...That's what happened," Wendy concluded while gently patting Carla. Everyone could see the tears clouding her eyes.

"Oh, Wendy..." I felt sadness at the thought of my friends being eaten by the undead in front of my eyes. _If it were Natsu..._ I simply didn't want to imagine it. It was unbearable. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that."

"It's okay," she replied. "I'm just glad that Sherria doesn't have to experience anymore of what the world is now. It's honestly a nightmare. But I don't want to give up living just yet." Carla meowed in consensus.

Natsu grinned from ear to ear, "You're right. We can't stop fighting until we go down. We live for those around us. None of us should give up on living in this world that we were born into." We all nodded our heads. He really was a very inspiring and positive person.

I switched the conversation to a different topic, "Natsu, can I ask how your other personality came to be? Like where did it come from?"

Unexpectedly, his expression turned dark, "I don't think anyone should know about it..." I raised my eyebrows in surprise, _Not even Gray or Erza know how it happened?_

"Not even Gray and I know what happened to Natsu before he came to the orphanage," Erza admitted as if she read my mind.

"Yeah. He's pretty secretive about it besides the fact that his dad went missing, which was why he ended up in the orphanage," Gray piped up. "Every time we ask, it seems like something pretty traumatizing happened."

Natsu slowly nodded, "I don't really wanna talk about it..."

"Oh, that's fine then! We all have parts of the past that we don't want to bring up..." I understood where he was coming from. I have my own secrets as well.

" _So_...where we off to next?" Natsu inquired. "Any ideas?"

"None," Gray shrugged. "I'm no good at this stuff."

"Well, we're going to run out of food eventually..." I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. "Maybe we could find a mall? It still hasn't been that long since the apocalypse started. We could look for supplies and things there."

"The Magic Mall is near here. We could go there," Erza proposed.

Wendy commented, "I've been there before."

"I guess you're gonna have to show us around then, huh?" Natsu chuckled. "Then, take us there, Erza!"

"You cannot order me around," Erza started the car and started to head toward The Magic Mall anyway.

"She really is contradictory..." Natsu murmured to me in between laughs.

"I can _hear_ you," Erza rammed into a wall of zombies, but paid no heed to them.

I sighed, "I hope this car lasts... I don't know if we'll be able to find a new one..." _Not to mention that it is utterly hideous. There's blood all over everything and I can barely see out the window..._

"With _Erza_ driving, it definitely won't last," Gray muttered.

"What was that, Gray?"

"Nothing, Erza!" he laughed nervously and whistled an innocent tune.

"How far away is The Magic Mall, anyway?" Natsu was already complaining. "This isn't gonna take long, is it? Please tell me it isn't."

"About forty-five minutes...?" Wendy sounded unsure.

"Oh god."

This was gonna be a long car ride.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the year-long hiatus! I was occupied with life and it just took over and I didn't bother to continue this story until now. But now it's time to get back on track and update this story, because I want to complete it one day. See you in the next chapter, whenever that may be.**

 **If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to PM me or review if you find that to be easier. I love hearing your guys' thoughts!**


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